Science Friday
Turns out pretend tea parties can be a science experiment.
We sat down with cognitive scientist Amalia Bastos to talk about what inspired her to conduct this study with Kanzi and what scientists know so far about imagination in other species.
Listen to the podcast now: https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/apes-use-imagination-bonobo-tea-party/
Video provided by Amalia Bastos and Christopher Krupenye
Amalia P. M. Bastos, Christopher Krupenye ,Evidence for representation of pretend objects by Kanzi, a language-trained bonobo.Science391,583-586(2026).DOI:10.1126/science.adz0743
Do these songs sound familiar? Do they make you feel like your laundry just finished?
Joel Beckerman, who has composed for Roomba, and Audrey Arbeeny, who has developed songs for washing machines, talked with Science Friday about what goes into creating those little sounds and and which ones they secretly can't stand.
Hear more appliances and the whole conversation today on your local public radio station from 2-4pm ET.
Or listen to our podcast right now: https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/appliance-sounds-sonic-designer-explains/
Calling all parents! We want to know what your parenting challenges are.
Can’t get your kids to wear shoes? Can’t get them to eat broccoli? Tell us all about it!
We’re doing an episode with an animal expert who may have some creative solutions from the animal kingdom that we can all try.
Call us at 877-4-SCIFRI
05/11/2026
A camera can capture a lot, but not everything.
In our , you can see the Artemis II astronauts working on their photography AND description skills before going to space. While NASA can attach cameras to uncrewed flights, having an astronaut document what they're seeing with written notes and voice memos is uniquely valuable for scientists. A human eye can see subtle color and lighting changes that aren’t noticeable in a photo.
Case in point: Apollo 17's Jack Schmitt saw orange soil on the moon that barely showed up in his own photos. He was able to collect that specific soil which helped scientists understand the moon’s past volcanic activity.
Dr. Kelsey Young, NASA's Artemis science flight operations lead, joined Flora to talk about the importance of visual descriptions from astronauts, the impact flashes that were seen during the Artemis II mission, and her career journey to mission control.
Listen the podcast now: https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/artemis-2-moon-photos/
Photo description and credit:
1. NASA astronaut and Artemis II commander, Reid Wiseman (foreground), and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut and Artemis II mission specialist, practice lunar photography. Photo Credit: Kelsey Young
2. Astronaut Jeremy Hansen captures an image through the camera shroud covering window 2 of the Orion spacecraft. Photo Credit: NASA
3. Artemis science officers, from left, Kelsey Young, Trevor Graff, and Angela Garcia stand at the new SCIENCE console in the Mission Control Center. Photo Credits: NASA/Josh Valcarcel
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